Placed on MATCH. Reserve held. Fees you never agreed to.

Placed on MATCH?

I can help you find out why, and what it takes to get off.

MATCH is a list Mastercard runs of merchants that acquirers have terminated for cause. Acquirers check it before they open a new account, so a listing can shut you out of card processing. A listing stays for five years, and only the acquirer that added you can change or remove it.

What I do

• Get the reason for the listing, and the acquirer that made it, in writing.
• Compare that reason with what actually happened and with your contract.
• Where the listing is wrong, press for correction or removal. Where it is valid, work out what the acquirer needs to see to reconsider, and what to fix first.

Good to know. Removal is never guaranteed. Merchant agreements often require arbitration, with written notice before you can file, so timing matters.

Can’t get your reserve released?

Whether an ISO or an acquiring bank is holding your money, call me.

Processors hold part of your sales, or a lump sum, as a reserve against chargebacks. Holds often run 90 to 180 days, and many agreements keep a reserve for 180 days after you leave. Your agreement sets the amount, the schedule and the release date. The trouble starts when the date passes and the money doesn’t come back.

What I do

• Find out who holds the money and under which agreement: the ISO, the acquiring bank, or both.
• Work out what should have been released, and when, from your reserve terms and your statements.
• Demand it in writing. If that fails, pursue it through negotiation, arbitration or court, whichever your agreement allows.

Good to know. Keep your balance statements, the termination notice and every message about the reserve. The dates matter.

Charged fees that weren’t in your contract?

Put the contract next to the statements.

Extra fees come in many forms: statement and PCI non-compliance fees, early-termination charges, markups on interchange, monthly minimums. If a charge doesn’t trace back to the agreement you signed, or to what you were told before you signed, you may be able to get it back.

What I do

• Go through the contract and every monthly statement, line by line. As a CPA, I’m at home in the numbers.
• Add up what you were charged beyond the agreed terms, and over what period.
• Demand repayment and an end to the charges, and take it further if the processor refuses.

Good to know. Act quickly. Many agreements require you to challenge statement errors within a short window.

Account frozen or closed without warning?

Tell me what the notice says and what is being held.

A processor can freeze your account or end it on short notice, sometimes before it tells you why, and your sales can sit unpaid while it reviews you. Your agreement says when it may do that, what notice you are owed, and what happens to the money already in the account. Whether the termination was for cause matters too, because a for-cause termination is what can lead to a MATCH listing and a reserve.

What I do

• Read the notice and your agreement to see what reason was given, what notice was required, and whether the processor followed it.
• Find out what is being held, by whom and for how long.
• Press for the release of your funds and for a clear reason in writing, and deal with any MATCH listing or reserve that follows.

Good to know. Save the notice, your payout history and every message, and keep your replies in writing.

Why a lawyer who is also a CPA

• I read the numbers.

  I started in audit and tax at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, and I have been a Certified Public Accountant in Illinois since 1983.

• I have seen fraud from the prosecutor’s side.

  I prosecuted financial crimes and governmental fraud for the Cook County State’s Attorney.

• I know the bank side.

  I have represented banks and other financial institutions on electronic funds transfers and settlement, and built anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer programs, so I know what compliance teams look at when they close an account or hold funds.

• I have handled other people’s money and other people’s disputes.

  As General Counsel and CFO of a Chicago title company I oversaw escrow accounts across more than $500M of closings, and I have tried and arbitrated commercial disputes.

What to bring to the first call

• Your merchant processing agreement and any reserve or fee addenda
• The freeze, termination, MATCH or reserve notice
• The last twelve months of processing statements
• Your messages with the ISO, processor or bank

Experience

$25M

Accredited-investor offering for a crypto-lending platform, with SEC and CFTC compliance.

Program

Anti-money-laundering and anti-corruption compliance program for a multinational client, built to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

Litigation

Commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation, including jury and bench trials, on breach of contract, fiduciary duty and business torts including fraud.

$20M

Cross-border commercial litigation in Mexico for a Fortune 200 company.

$500M+

Residential, commercial and construction closings, with the company’s escrow accounts overseen as General Counsel and CFO of a Chicago title company.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Background

Admitted to practice

State of Illinois (1987)U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (1990)U.S. Tax Court (1994)

Accounting

Certified Public Accountant, State of Illinois, since 1983

Education

DePaul University College of Law, J.D., Corporate LawUniversity of Illinois, Gies College of Business, B.S., AccountingStanford Graduate School of Engineering, AI Graduate Certificate / Product Innovation (2026)

Teaching

Associate Professor of law, The John Marshall Law School (now UIC School of Law), and legal-clinic volunteer

Languages

English; Spanish (full professional proficiency); Portuguese (conversational)

Memberships

Hispanic National Bar Association; International Bar Association; Illinois CPA Society and AICPA; Latin American Bar Association; Mexican American Lawyers Association (board); Illinois Hispanic Lawyers Association, including its Judicial Evaluation Committee; U.S.–Mexico Chamber of Commerce. I also mentor Eagle Scouts with the Boy Scouts of America.

Publications

“Across the Border: Foreign Investors Form Alliances In Mexico,” The National Law Journal (1998)“International Litigation v. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Making the NAFTA Choice,” Dispute Resolution Magazine (1994)